Thugs continued to beat man while unconscious
TWO violent thugs pounced on a man bringing him to the ground and kicked him as he lay unconscious on the ground.
Shaun Chester and Nathan Bain are both starting stints behind bars almost four years after a vicious attack which left a dad needing surgery.
The pair overpowered the victim when he tried to step in to stop an altercation between his partner and a female friend of the defendants in Darlington town centre.
Chester, now 24, told his victim to “leave them to it” but when he refused the thug attacked. The victim managed to grab him in a “bear hug” to stop the punches, Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said.
Chester then bit his neck as Bain, now 25, began pummelling punches in the victim’s back. Chester and his victim parted and the pair then continued to attack the man on High Row during the incident on July 12, 2019.
Teesside Crown Court heard how the violent attackers continued to punch the victim before one kicked the back of his knee causing him to fall to the ground. Ms Khan added: “At that point while he is on the ground they start kicking his torso and head area to the extent that he loses consciousness.”
Footage of the attack was played in the courtroom. Bain pushes away a woman who tries to intervene and Chester continues to kick the man after he loses consciousness.
The pair both pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm on the day of trial while Chester, of Clarence Street, Spennymoor, also admitted affray – he can be seen punching out at another three people who try to intervene. The victim suffered bruising as well as an injury to his ankle which required an operation. In a victim impact statement, he told the court that he still suffers issues with his ankle now and is unable to play football with his son.
As a result of the attack, he lost his job as he was unable to work and lost around £2,000 in earnings. The dad had to fall back on savings which he’d hoped to use towards buying a home, the court heard.
Michelle Turner, mitigating for Chester who sat in the dock with his head down, said the defendant has come a long way in maturing since the attack. He’s also spent time in prison for more recent offences – in total he has 19 convictions for 62 offences.
“As with most young men approaching his mid-20s there appears to be an element of maturity which has kicked in following that last custodial sentence,” said Ms Turner. “He has engaged completely with this post-sentence supervision.
“It’s been four years – this young man was 21 at the time and he was quite clearly having mental health issues that were going unaddressed.”
His work on post-sentence supervision has been “superb”, the court heard.
Harry Crowson, mitigating for Bain, discussed the work done as part of the probation service’s report.
He said: “When he goes through his upbringing he was surrounded by [violence], it was normalised. At the exact point when one might be able to understand that violence is not the way adults should deal with things, at 18, he himself was subject to a very serious assault.
“That fully concreted the idea of violence as a default mechanism. Nevertheless, at the time of committing these offences he had no other convictions to his name.” Recorder Aisha Wadoodi sentenced both Chester and Bain, of Dickens Street, Spennymoor, to 15 months in custody for the GBH.
Chester was also handed four months to be served concurrently for the affray.